Massive Landslides in Japan (NEW ZetaTalk)

2012-04-25

by Kazu

The landslide had taken away the earth and sand of totally about 60,000 cubic meters including the roadside of Akabira-Naie line which has been stopped by Hokkaido Prefectural Government. The white line on the photo is to divide the area for pedestrians and automobiles.

A part of the roadside fence is suspended in the air.

More rainfall will expand the area of landslide but it will be overcast on April 25(Wed.) in this area, the Meteorological Agency of Japan forecasted.

Nobody is living in this house, the municipality of Utashinai confirmed.

In this 3 or 4 days, many parts of Sorachi sub-prefectural area were covered with fog from the ground. It may be moisture evaporated from the ground. Tremendous amount of water is stocked under the ground after the heavy snow in this area. Please be careful with such sign and steep slopes in Sorachi sub-prefectural area.

2012-04-24

by Kazu

These photos will not on the newspaper tomorrow morning. These were taken in the morning today.The roadside of Akabira-Naie line administered by Hokkaido Prefectural Government and the around area toppled down in the morning of April 24(Tue.) in Utashinai City that had almost gone bunkrupted 6 years ago.

Allegedly the area had been an informal gabage dam where the citizens and their neighbours had thrown in their gabage many years ago. Actually when I walked around the top of the cliff, I felt the touch of plastics and bynyl sheets on the surface.

These area was hit by heavy snow in passing winter and had not-so-heavy rainfall these days. The land slide occurred after 8:40 in the morning when one of the neighbours walked around this area. After that one of the citizen made a phone call to the police in Utashinai City at 8:58 in the morning and told that the water of the river Panke-utashinai had got muddy and the landslide had stopped the river flow and caused flood around this area. The depth of the canyon the landslide of 100 meters made was 25 meter in depth and 50 meters in width.

Some houses are around the cliff the landslide made and 197 citizens were evacuated from their house.

Of course the traffic on the road Akabira-Naie line had been stoppedbecause of the fear of more landslide from the upperside.

This is the temporary lake made by the land slide.

The water in the lake went across the road and swamped to the other side of the road. A fire engine stood still for a while swamped by the water from the river.

I hope the firefighters in Utashinai City will be able to use this fireengine again.

But the muffler was completely under the water at the time.

The apartment buildings run by the city were near the river Pnke-Utashinai.

The firefighters were struggle with the water and flood.

The flood water was pumped out from the residence area soon.

It is required to cooperate each other among the administrative organization such as municipality, prefectural government and self-defence force in Japan.

This flood may be a piece of cake in comparison with the huge earthquake and OOTSUNAMI taht had happened in eastern part of Japan on March of 2011 but we have to build up the strong communities and system to protect the citizens from the disasters.

After the backhoes provided by the construction companies in Utashinai City took off the mud in the river that had stopped the river flow, the flood water was pumped out and the water swamped to the town was decreasing.

Thanks to the good communication among the municipality, Japanese Self-defence Force, police, firefighters and the Sub-prefectural Office of Hokkaido Government, no casualty in Utashinai City and around the area.Thanks God !To be continued.

The site where a massive landslide occurred under a local railway is pictured in Yubari, Hokkaido, on April 27. (Mainichi)

YUBARI, Hokkaido -- Services on a train line here have been seriously disrupted after a massive landslide along a railway embankment, probably due to snowmelt, left part of the line's tracks hanging in the air.

According to Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) officials, the driver of a local train on the JR Sekisho Line reported experiencing "a vertical shake" at around 7:10 a.m. on April 27, when it was passing between Yubari and Shikanotani stations.

The landslide, which swept the earth out from under the tracks for some 50 meters, reaching a nearby municipal road, is presumed to have occurred shortly after the train passed by, officials say.

Although there were no injuries as a result of the incident reported, the Yubari Municipal Government issued evacuation advisories to five households near the accident site.

Services between the Sekisho Line's Yubari and Shin-Yubari stations remained suspended for the day.

The landslide is presumed to be the result of sudden snowmelt in the area, due in turn to recent higher-than-normal temperatures, officials say.

According to the Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory, on the day of the incident, at 16.5 degrees Celsius temperatures in Yubari were closer to the mid-May average than late April. While there was accumulated snow of some 25 centimeters only a day earlier, on the morning of April 27 the snow had melted down to only about three centimeters.

In related news, a series of landslides and river overflows also presumed to have been caused by snowmelt occurred in various places in Hokkaido on the same day.

Landslides that choked local canals and causing partial flooding on roads occurred in Asahikawa and Shosanbetsu in central and northwestern Hokkaido, respectively, while an overflow of the Uryu River in Fukagawa and Numata, both in western Hokkaido, inundated some 5,000 square meters of rice paddies along the river.

JR Hokkaido temporarily suspended services between Horonobe and Teshionakagawa stations on the Soya Line in central and northern Hokkaido due to an alarming rise in the Teshio River.

As a result of the incidents, JR Hokkaido began emergency inspections of past landslide locations and places where snowmelt water had previously gathered. The checkups are expected to continue until April 29.

April 28, 2012(Mainichi Japan)

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The new ZetaTalk for 5/5 includes a question on this issue, so here it is a tad early.

SOZT

Hokkaido Island of Japan is subject to pressure from the subduction of the Pacific Plate, which creates mountain building deep below with consequent rumpling of the land above. Rumpling can be described as portions rising while other portions drop and roll, like the waves arriving on a beach and turning upon themselves at the return to the ocean. Earthquakes are frequently described as having the appearance of waves rolling along the land, the land rising and falling. If the wave is large enough, the portions rising and the portions dropping and rolling have enough difference in height to cause the landscape to tear apart, as was seen in Hokkaido.